No council employees will face disciplinary action in a town where 1,400 children suffered sexual exploitation in a 16-year period, the local authority's chief executive has said.

Rotherham Council leader Roger Stone resigned today following the publication of a shocking report which detailed gang rapes, grooming, trafficking and other sexual exploitation on a wide scale in the South Yorkshire town.

But council chief executive Martin Kimber said he did not have the evidence to discipline any individuals working for the council despite the report saying there had been "blatant" collective failures by its leadership at the time.

There were also calls for South Yorkshire's Police and Crime Commissioner Shaun Wright to consider his position tonight.

Mr Wright is a former Rotherham Labour councillor and was cabinet member for Children Services between 2005 and 2010.

Professor Alexis Jay, who wrote the report, said she found "utterly appaling" examples of "children who had been doused in petrol and threatened with being set alight, threatened with guns, made to witness brutally-violent rapes and threatened they would be next if they told anyone".

She said: "They were raped by multiple perpetrators, trafficked to other towns and cities in the north of England, abducted, beaten and intimidated."

She said she found that girls as young as 11 had been raped by large numbers of men.

A spokesman for Number 10 said: "The failings of local agencies exposed by this inquiry are appalling."

Mr Stone resigned his post within minutes of the report being published.

He said in a statement: "I believe it is only right that I, as leader, take responsibility on behalf of the council for the historic failings that are described so clearly in the report and it is my intention to do so."

Mr Kimber was repeatedly asked to justify the decision to bring no disciplinary actions to anyone at the council at a press conference in the town.

He said there was not evidence to discipline anyone still employed at the authority suggested the current employers of senior managers who have worked for Rotherham Council in the past should study the report carefully.

The spotlight first fell on Rotherham in 2010 when five men were given lengthy jail terms after they were found guilty of grooming teenage girls for sex.

The prosecution was the first of a series of high-profile cases in the last four years that have revealed the exploitation of young girls in towns and cities including Rochdale, Derby and Oxford.

Following the 2010 case, The Times claimed that details from 200 restricted-access documents showed how police and child protection agencies in the South Yorkshire town had extensive knowledge of these activities for a decade, yet a string of offences went unprosecuted.

The allegations led to a range of official investigations, including one by the Home Affairs Select Committee.

Today's report - commissioned by the council - said failures of the political and officer leadership of Rotherham Council between 1997 and 2009 were "blatant" as the seriousness of the problem was underplayed by senior managers and was not seen as a priority by South Yorkshire Police.

Prof Jay said police "regarded many child victims with contempt".

These failures happened despite three reports between 2002 and 2006 "which could not have been clearer in the description of the situation in Rotherham".

She said one of these reports was "effectively suppressed" and the others were ignored.

The reports also said that "several staff described their nervousness about identifying the ethnic origins of perpetrators for fear of being thought racist" as most of the perpetrators were described by the victims as Asian.

Prof Jay concluded in her report: "No one knows the true scale of the child sexual exploitation (CSE) in Rotherham over the years.

"Our conservative estimate is that approximately 1,400 children were sexually exploited over the full inquiry period, from 1997 to 2013."

Rotherham district police commander Chief Superintendent Jason Harwin said: "Firstly I'd like to start by offering an unreserved apology to the victims of Child Sexual Exploitation who did not receive the level of service they should be able to expect from their local police force. We fully acknowledge our previous failings."

The officer said that in the last 12 months in Rotherham 15 people have been prosecuted or charged with CSE-related offences and his officers are currently dealing with 32 live investigations

John Cameron, head of NSPCC helpline at the NSPCC, said: "It appears there was at a senior level a collective blindness over many years to the suffering of children who endured almost incomprehensible levels of violence and intimidation."

Adam Pemberton, assistant chief executive of Victim Support said: "Time and again we see the same pattern repeated. Until those in authority focus on the sexual abuse and not the symptoms of that abuse, the lives of vulnerable young people like the victims in Rotherham will go on being ruined."

Barnardo's chief executive Javed Khan said: "The horrific nature of the child sexual exploitation which took place in Rotherham is truly shocking. These vicious sexual predators should never have been allowed to put these children through such hell for so long."

Comments (12)

Nowhere does it say the religion of the perpertrators of this filth. It is about time they stopped tarring all "Asians" with the same brush...the ones carrying this out were only following in the footsteps of their great prophet...aka known as a murdering peadophilic highway robber rapist.
I will give you a clue...it wasn't Jesus.

Nowhere does it say the religion of the perpertrators of this filth. It is about time they stopped tarring all "Asians" with the same brush...the ones carrying this out were only following in the footsteps of their great prophet...aka known as a murdering peadophilic highway robber rapist.
I will give you a clue...it wasn't Jesus.skinthegoat

I hope for the sake of the kids( as they was when this took place) that there is a full and proper hunt for all these bastards and we convict them and put them in prison. Not in a prison that keeps them away from other inmates.
The police should hang there heads in shame, those who had any knowledge should also be put away.
We cannot let anyone escape from what they caused in not saying anything because it seems most of the offenders where NOT WHITE.
FOR THE SAKE OF THE KIDS WRITE TO YOUR M/P AND TELL THEM WHAT YOU THINK.
CAN YOU EVEN THINK ABOUT HAVING PETROL POURED OVER YOU AND THINKING YOU WILL BE SET ALIGHT.

I hope for the sake of the kids( as they was when this took place) that there is a full and proper hunt for all these bastards and we convict them and put them in prison. Not in a prison that keeps them away from other inmates.
The police should hang there heads in shame, those who had any knowledge should also be put away.
We cannot let anyone escape from what they caused in not saying anything because it seems most of the offenders where NOT WHITE.
FOR THE SAKE OF THE KIDS WRITE TO YOUR M/P AND TELL THEM WHAT YOU THINK.
CAN YOU EVEN THINK ABOUT HAVING PETROL POURED OVER YOU AND THINKING YOU WILL BE SET ALIGHT.cosmick

I think we can all agree on something...when the abuse in Rotherham headline was initially read, you absolutely knew that Pakistanis were involved. The same thing happened in Rochdale and in many other Muslim towns and cities. And you know what, the general Muslim population will not voice their disgust over the filthy animals that committed these horrific, vile acts. Whilst i am voicing..what the hell is going on in the world with Muslims? They are killing non - muslims for no reason other than financial gain, there are muslims killing muslims and the only time that they protest with venom is when someone draws a cartoon of their prophet. The Chinese, Hindus and other races do not have a consistent map of terror...Why do muslims act in this way?

I think we can all agree on something...when the abuse in Rotherham headline was initially read, you absolutely knew that Pakistanis were involved. The same thing happened in Rochdale and in many other Muslim towns and cities. And you know what, the general Muslim population will not voice their disgust over the filthy animals that committed these horrific, vile acts. Whilst i am voicing..what the hell is going on in the world with Muslims? They are killing non - muslims for no reason other than financial gain, there are muslims killing muslims and the only time that they protest with venom is when someone draws a cartoon of their prophet. The Chinese, Hindus and other races do not have a consistent map of terror...Why do muslims act in this way?Canary Boy

These violations occurred during the years of the invasion of Afghanistan & Iraq and the persecution of all Muslims had begun in the country. I can say this as I am a white british national and I am ashamed . In light of this, please don't be naive if leaders of the council & the police are hiding behind a cop out "we felt we couldn't do anything as we'd be thought we'd be acused of racism" Rubbish. Let's see where the trail led as with 1400 young people being abused, there has to be many abusers and I bet they have one thing in common.. they all all sick men. Many heads should roll and police officers should be brought out of retirement to face charges. It is convenient that they now have a "good guy" heading the force, but "sorry" is NOT enough for these victims.

These violations occurred during the years of the invasion of Afghanistan & Iraq and the persecution of all Muslims had begun in the country. I can say this as I am a white british national and I am ashamed . In light of this, please don't be naive if leaders of the council & the police are hiding behind a cop out "we felt we couldn't do anything as we'd be thought we'd be acused of racism" Rubbish. Let's see where the trail led as with 1400 young people being abused, there has to be many abusers and I bet they have one thing in common.. they all all sick men. Many heads should roll and police officers should be brought out of retirement to face charges. It is convenient that they now have a "good guy" heading the force, but "sorry" is NOT enough for these victims.minamon

These crimes took place during the period of the invasion of Afghanistan & Iraq. At a time when our media were very happy to victimise all muslims, so please don't give us a lame excuse that council officials were afraid of being accused of racism. This goes really high and should have an independent enquiry immediately headed by the lady who uncovered the abuse. I would trust that lady to oversee a fair enquiry. We are ranting over insurgents and these crimes have been going on to our childen under our nose with no-one there to defend them. It is an outrage and should take priority lets put our own affairs in order before interferring with other countries problems.

These crimes took place during the period of the invasion of Afghanistan & Iraq. At a time when our media were very happy to victimise all muslims, so please don't give us a lame excuse that council officials were afraid of being accused of racism. This goes really high and should have an independent enquiry immediately headed by the lady who uncovered the abuse. I would trust that lady to oversee a fair enquiry. We are ranting over insurgents and these crimes have been going on to our childen under our nose with no-one there to defend them. It is an outrage and should take priority lets put our own affairs in order before interferring with other countries problems.minamon

This is what you get after decades of political correctness and multicultualism rammed forcibly down our throats. Officials are scared of acting for fear opf being labelled racist and the consequences it may bring, and the perpetrators know full well that all they have to do is play the race discrimination card and the authorities immediately back off. What is really shocking is that this sickening behaviour was well known within the minority communities themselves but they did not condone it or speak out against it, much as they are silent on the Iraq issue ongoing at the moment.

This is what you get after decades of political correctness and multicultualism rammed forcibly down our throats. Officials are scared of acting for fear opf being labelled racist and the consequences it may bring, and the perpetrators know full well that all they have to do is play the race discrimination card and the authorities immediately back off. What is really shocking is that this sickening behaviour was well known within the minority communities themselves but they did not condone it or speak out against it, much as they are silent on the Iraq issue ongoing at the moment.stevegg

It says something when "concerned citizens" recommend that public officials who cover up crime should RESIGN or face DISCIPLINE.
These scum must be ARRESTED, TRIED and if guilty deposited in PRISON along with the criminals they protected.
It says something when "concerned citizens" divert attention from the need to protect and bring to justice, and turn this horrific scene into an opportunity to discuss politics or race or religion.
After the children are protected and the criminals -- the rapists and their friends on the public payroll -- are brought to justice, we may be free to examine the politics or race or religion of the criminals.
It says something when it's not only the rapists and their friends in public office who forget the children. It says something when the readers of this newspaper forget the children too, and are so easily diverted into discussions about resignations, discussions about politics, discussions about anything but the cries of the innocent.

It says something when "concerned citizens" recommend that public officials who cover up crime should RESIGN or face DISCIPLINE.
These scum must be ARRESTED, TRIED and if guilty deposited in PRISON along with the criminals they protected.
It says something when "concerned citizens" divert attention from the need to protect and bring to justice, and turn this horrific scene into an opportunity to discuss politics or race or religion.
After the children are protected and the criminals -- the rapists and their friends on the public payroll -- are brought to justice, we may be free to examine the politics or race or religion of the criminals.
It says something when it's not only the rapists and their friends in public office who forget the children. It says something when the readers of this newspaper forget the children too, and are so easily diverted into discussions about resignations, discussions about politics, discussions about anything but the cries of the innocent.SHVoss

There should be disciplinary action and sackings at both Rotherham Council and South Yorkshire Police. If your job is to protect the public and to protect children from abuse and 1400 children are abused on your watch because you turned a blind eye, you have failed miserably to do your job.

As in the Saville case and too many other cases, victims have been ignored and let down. Some of those cases were so long ago, the people responsible are no longer employed in the field. That is not the case here - if people involved in child protection start losing their jobs for not doing their jobs, maybe the message will strike home. Listen to the victims, investigate fully and act,

There should be disciplinary action and sackings at both Rotherham Council and South Yorkshire Police. If your job is to protect the public and to protect children from abuse and 1400 children are abused on your watch because you turned a blind eye, you have failed miserably to do your job.
As in the Saville case and too many other cases, victims have been ignored and let down. Some of those cases were so long ago, the people responsible are no longer employed in the field. That is not the case here - if people involved in child protection start losing their jobs for not doing their jobs, maybe the message will strike home. Listen to the victims, investigate fully and act,Excluded again

I remember when I posted some of this Muslim Grooming Gang information and accusations a year or so ago and got hammered by the PC leftist posters on here, who liked to call me a Racist Bigoted Islamophobe, reported by the then leader of the British National Party Nick Griffin, well you were not on your own the Daily Mail stopped me posting about the Pakistani Sexual Grooming Gangs too, but in the end Nick Griffin was found to be correct in his accusations against these evil sexual perpetrators, all though not all Pakistani men but very near all were of that origin and also Muslim's..

I pasted this from the British National Parties Web Site:
Quote:
An independent enquiry has revealed the shocking extent of the abuse of more than 1,400 children in Rotherham alone, mostly by men of
‘Pakistani heritage’.
The enquiry forced on the authorities by a three-year Protect Children campaign run by the BNP has revealed... exactly what the BNP was warning people about all these years!
Research by BNP super-activist for Rotherham, Marlene Guest, provided the independent team with a wealth of material proving mass-scale abuse of children in the area.
The BNP has been warning of the threat to children by organised groups from the Muslim community across the country who have been preying on, raping and systematically abusing children form other communities.
Despite the BNP being proved time and time again to be right, the authorities have consistently done all they can to silence and persecute BNP spokesmen and women.
In 2003, the authorities, with help from the BBC, even tried to jail ex-BNP Chairman Nick Griffin for 7 years for warning people about it. un-quote....

We all like to point the finger, as others do when the general public are fed lies about the BNP, but this and other stories are now becoming to light and are not lies, we get fooled by Media who have another agenda for the owners to make sure the truth tellers are silenced,1400 young girls sexually abused since Nick Griffin warned the Police,lets hope that this is not repeated, with the Yewtree ongoing inquiry, how far will Government let it progress....

I have pasted this from a similar topic on another post by me.....

I remember when I posted some of this Muslim Grooming Gang information and accusations a year or so ago and got hammered by the PC leftist posters on here, who liked to call me a Racist Bigoted Islamophobe, reported by the then leader of the British National Party Nick Griffin, well you were not on your own the Daily Mail stopped me posting about the Pakistani Sexual Grooming Gangs too, but in the end Nick Griffin was found to be correct in his accusations against these evil sexual perpetrators, all though not all Pakistani men but very near all were of that origin and also Muslim's..
I pasted this from the British National Parties Web Site:
Quote:
An independent enquiry has revealed the shocking extent of the abuse of more than 1,400 children in Rotherham alone, mostly by men of
‘Pakistani heritage’.
The enquiry forced on the authorities by a three-year Protect Children campaign run by the BNP has revealed... exactly what the BNP was warning people about all these years!
Research by BNP super-activist for Rotherham, Marlene Guest, provided the independent team with a wealth of material proving mass-scale abuse of children in the area.
The BNP has been warning of the threat to children by organised groups from the Muslim community across the country who have been preying on, raping and systematically abusing children form other communities.
Despite the BNP being proved time and time again to be right, the authorities have consistently done all they can to silence and persecute BNP spokesmen and women.
In 2003, the authorities, with help from the BBC, even tried to jail ex-BNP Chairman Nick Griffin for 7 years for warning people about it. un-quote....
We all like to point the finger, as others do when the general public are fed lies about the BNP, but this and other stories are now becoming to light and are not lies, we get fooled by Media who have another agenda for the owners to make sure the truth tellers are silenced,1400 young girls sexually abused since Nick Griffin warned the Police,lets hope that this is not repeated, with the Yewtree ongoing inquiry, how far will Government let it progress....
I have pasted this from a similar topic on another post by me.....welshmen

The people at the top who are collecting their huge wages deny responsibility for not doing their jobs. If no-one under them is guilty then they are! IF NO-ONE IS IN CHARGE THEN WHO IS RUNNING THEIR RESPECTIVE AUTHORITIES?

The people at the top who are collecting their huge wages deny responsibility for not doing their jobs. If no-one under them is guilty then they are! IF NO-ONE IS IN CHARGE THEN WHO IS RUNNING THEIR RESPECTIVE AUTHORITIES?hippyjohn

Post a comment

Comment

Remember you are personally responsible for what you post on this site and must abide by our site terms. Do not post anything that is false, abusive or malicious. If you wish to complain, please use the ‘report this post’ link.